On September 27 in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which also considered issues related to the destruction and appropriation of the Armenian cultural heritage, carried out by Azerbaijan for 30 years and, in particular, during the six-week war.

The Assembly condemned the damage caused to the Armenian cultural heritage for 30 years on the territory of Azerbaijan and, in particular, on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan, the deliberate shelling of Surb Amenaprkich Ghazanchetsots church in Shushi, as well as the destruction or damage of other churches and cemeteries during the conflict and after.

In addition, considering the previous destructions, the Assembly is concerned about the fate of many Armenian churches and monasteries, including Khutavank (Dadivank), khachkars, and other types of cultural heritage, which are now located on the territory of Azerbaijan.

The Assembly also expressed concern about the incessant spread of figments in Azerbaijan, according to which the Armenian cultural heritage is presented as Albanian, and therefore invited UNESCO to study the problem of the heritage of the "Caucasian Albanians" to make sure that it is not an interest of one of the parties to the conflict

(see https://pace.coe.int/en/files/29483#trace-4).

Our response

The resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, adopted by the PACE on September 27, 2021, as an international document is a special case that reflects certain adequacy of the international instance in the issue of deliberate infliction of harm towards the Armenian cultural heritage by Azerbaijan, and for the first time does not consider both sides as equal.